The first step in becoming organized is understanding your personal organization style: either Visual, or Camouflage.
Organizing Style
Review the descriptions below to determine your unique style. You may find it simple to recognize your style, or if you are not as extreme as the examples, you may also be a combination of the two styles.
Visual |
Camouflage |
| Wants everything out in the open |
Wants everything out of sight |
| Piles of papers everywhere |
Clear, clean desk |
| Drawers left open |
Closed drawers |
| Closet doors left open |
Closet doors closed |
| Floors or chairs used as desks |
Clear floor and chairs |
| Items placed on floor as reminders |
Things stuffed under desk |
| Tops removed from stuffed boxes |
Things stuffed in boxes with lids |
Working Style
Just as each of us is born with a unique organizing style, each of us is also born with a unique working style.
There are two distinct working styles. Please review the descriptions to determine your natural way of working. Remember, we can train ourselves to work in either working style, but your natural style is the one with which you are most comfortable. Even if you are able to work in another style, you will revert to your natural style when you become stressed or overwhelmed.
You may be using different styles in different environments. Some find they are Focused at work, but at home they are Grazers. This may be caused by external influences. (Examples: At work, you may have no choice over the furniture you use.)
Grazer |
Focused |
| Works on multiple projects simultaneously |
Focuses on one project at a time |
| Needs to have several projects pending |
Needs to ignore the pending projects |
| Gets a rush from the excitement of having lots of projects in process |
Gets drained from the excitement & drama of too much going on |
| Gets bored by the same daily grind |
Gets energized by following a lead through to completion |
| Actually enjoys some interruptions |
Hates interruptions |
Obstacles
Once you have determined your organizational and working styles, you can then proceed to address the obstacles that impact your ability to organize your life. This is where Orgnaized Chaos can help! Some of the most common obstacles include: procrastination, completion issues, perfectionism, ADD, OCD.
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